Prep report: MI-B, Marshall suffer setbacks at Lake Superior Classic

Providence Academy gave a Mountain Iron-Buhl squad used to lopsided scores a taste of its own medicine on Saturday, dominating the second half of their contest at the Lake Superior Classic for a 87-53 girls basketball victory at East High School in Duluth.

The Lions led the Rangers by just 40-37 at halftime but ran away after the break, holding the Rangers to just 16 second-half points and scoring 47 themselves.

Maddyn Greenway, an elite Class of 2026 recruit, racked up 38 points, while Rachel Bartels scored 21.

For MI-B (8-3), Jordan Zubich made four 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 21 points. Hali Savela pitched in 12 and Sage Ganyo 11.

In an earlier game, Pequot Lakes took down Duluth Marshall 77-48 in a matchup between the defending Section 7AA champion Patriots and a Hilltoppers squad hoping to contend in the section tournament.

The Thunderhawks found their footing first in a defensive struggle, claiming the home win and allowing their fewest points against in a game this year.

Rapids led 16-9 at halftime, but pulled away with 30 points in the second half. Braya LaPlant was the Thunderhawks’ leading scorer with 14 points, while Taryn Hamling added 11 for Rapids (10-2), winners of 10 straight.

Isaac Asuma showed out in the spotlight, piling up 32 points and 13 rebounds for Cherry in a win at the Lake Superior Classic at Duluth East.

Carson Brown had a complementary performance, picking up 13 points, eight boards and six assists for the Tigers, now 6-3.

The Vikings’ Tyler Minke was too tough for Cloquet to handle, scoring 26 points as the Lumberjacks lost on the road.

Cloquet (4-6), which trailed 30-22 at halftime, got a team-high 17 points from Kollin Bonneville. Marco Mayorga contributed 10.

Grand Rapids was a clear victory in the Superior Spartan Classic wrestling tournament on Saturday, totaling 112 points. Four Thunderhawks won their weight classes, including Holden Brink (120), Alex Lehman (126), Justin Jobe (130) and Tanner Morian (145).

Nearby Northwestern ended up in second place and had a pair of wrestlers claim significant individual milestones.

Among other local teams were Rock Ridge, which tied for fourth with 43, Superior, which was sixth with 51, Cloquet (eighth, 44) and Proctor/Hermantown (12th, 28).

Tommy Brown of Northwestern defeated Joey Seely in the 113 final via a fall at the 2:48 mark. Brown reached the 100 career wins plateau during the tournament and is ranked third in the state of Wisconsin in his division.

Teammate Tanner Kaufman, who finished fourth in the 182 bracket, also won for the 100th time and is also third-ranked in Wisconsin.

Connor Kreuger claimed a victory for the home squad by prevailing in a 6-1 decision over Zach Thompson of Fosston-Bagley in the 138 final.

Warren Hietala claimed a highlight of the day for Cloquet when he pinned Jakob Rudie of Fosston-Bagley after 73 seconds in the 152 finals.

Damian Tapio of Rock Ridge earned a narrow decision at 170 over Lucas D’Jock of Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg/Siren.

Zak McPhee continued a sterling junior season for Proctor/Hermantown when he pinned Maximus Elliott of Shell Lake after 86 seconds for the 182 crown.

Ian Smith of Northwestern finished first in a six-man round-robin in the 195 division. Smith, a junior, is ranked second in Wisconsin in the class.

The Duluth boys swim team claimed victory in its home meet for the second consecutive year, winning a narrow decision, 539-533 ½ over Maple Grove.

Duluth state champion Grant Wodny capped the day by winning a thrilling finish in the meet’s last event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Swimming the anchor leg, Wodny bridged a gap of more than five seconds to the Maple Grove swimmer and beat him to the wall by a margin of about three-quarters of a second, a decision that also finalized the team standings.

Wodny set a new pool record when he won the 200 free in 1 minute, 43.91 seconds. He also won the 100 fly in 52.29.

Leif Ziring also claimed the 1-meter diving for Duluth, accumulating 356.65 points, while Travis Elling (500 free, 5:13.56) and the 200 free relay team were also local winners.

Isa Goettl and Ella Boerger had big days for the defending Class AA state champions, combining for nine points in a lopsided encounter at the Andover Arena.

The Mirage’s Hannah Graves scored 2:24 into the game but it turned out to be the only shot on goal the visitors had in the entire first period. Mackenzie Jones and Nora Sauer scored on the power play to make it 2-1 Andover after a period.

Goettl and Boerger did most of their damage from there with Goettl finishing with two goals and three assists and Boerger recording a goal and three assists.

Suri Langley made 30 saves for Proctor/Hermantown, which faced a 37-15 deficit in shots on goal.

The Hilltoppers got five unanswered goals from five different players to wear down an injury- and illness-depleted Lumberjacks squad.

Bailey Rupp scored on a breakaway for Bemidji in the first minute of the second period, but Marshall replied with two breakaway goals, by Danica Mark and Nina Thorson, to make it 2-1. Meredith Boettcher scored on a wraparound to give Marshall a 3-1 lead going back to the locker room and Gigi Smith and Ilsa Lindaman finished it off.

Ray Anderson had 22 saves.

Gabby Edlund’s second goal of the game proved decisive for the visitors on Saturday afternoon at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet.

Edlund opened the scoring, 2:26 in, but Erin Loeb evened it up for the Lumberjacks 3 ½ minutes later.

The game remained tied into the third period, where Maggie Albers’ goal for OPC was canceled out by a Reese Kuklinski equalizer with 6:25 to play.

The teams went to OT where Edlund ended it 91 seconds in and dropped the Lumberjacks to 1-10-2 on the season. CEC has six losses in one-goal games and an 0-3-2 record in overtime.

Araya Kiminski made 17 saves in the CEC net.

Mayme Scott’s second goal of the game, at 10:44 of the second period, held up as the Wolverines withstood a 35-13 onslaught in shots on goal.

Nola Kwiatkowski held strong in net, making 34 saves. The Wolverines (8-9-0) were outshot in all three periods, including 11-2 in the third while protecting the one-goal lead.

Natalie Bergman assisted both of Scott’s goals, including a first-period power play tally.

Makaela Reinke and Addy Benson scored two goals apiece as the Spartans rolled to victory at Superior Ice Arena.

Emma Ferg added a goal and two assists.

Goaltender Kaylie Nault needed just four saves to accomplish the shutout, while Superior peppered the other net with 64 shots on goal.

River Freeman’s empty-netter capped a four-point (two goals, two assists) game for the Hawks at the Eden Prairie Community Center.

Samuel Swenson and Joshua Kauppinen put Hermantown up 2-0 in the first period before Freeman made it 3-0 at 7:09 of the second. Andy Earl scored a pair as the Eagles got back into the game, but Hermantown scored the last three.

Dane Callaway made 23 saves for the Hawks (9-0-1).

Blake Vanek scored a pair of goals in the third period to draw the Ponies even with the Greyhounds at the St. Croix Valley Recreation Center.

A pair of goals late in the second period from Thomas Gunderson had put visiting East into the lead before the comeback. The teams played a scoreless overtime even though East (7-5-1) had a 5-3 shot advantage in the extra session and hit a crossbar at the buzzer.

Kole Konstedt made 25 saves for East.

Both Nolan Okstad and Carson Pavlowich had a goal and two assists as the Rails rolled to victory on Saturday afternoon at St. Luke’s Sports and Event Center.

Goals from Pavlowich and Wyatt Mineheine just 11 seconds apart in the first period staked Proctor to a 2-0 lead.

Asher Keep pulled one back for the Broncos but the Rails scored the last three unanswered.

Anthony Launderville had a goal and assist and Blake Imhoff made 27 saves for Proctor (5-8-0).

Carson Gotelaere scored in the first minute of the game but that was all the offense the Spartans could muster in a defeat at Wessman Arena.

PREP SCOREBOARD
BOYS BASKETBALL
North Branch 60, Cloquet 46
Hermantown 83, Sauk Rapids-Rice 57
Duluth Denfeld 92, International Falls 27
Perham 64, Esko 55
Cherry 83, Nevis 71
Duluth East 58, Owatonna 56
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pequot Lakes 77, Duluth Marshall 48
Ely 85, Silver Bay 35
Grand Rapids 46, Brainerd 28
Aitkin 51, Two Harbors 47
Providence Academy 87, Mountain Iron-Buhl 53
BOYS HOCKEY
Proctor 5, International Falls 1
Minneapolis 3, North Shore 0
Hermantown 6, Eden Prairie 2
Duluth East 5, Stillwater 5 (OT)
New Richmond 4, Superior 1
GIRLS HOCKEY
Andover 7, Proctor/Hermantown 2
Duluth Marshall 5, Bemidji 1
Osseo/Park Center 3, Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 2 (OT)
North Shore 7, Detroit Lakes 1
Rock Ridge 2, Chisago Lakes 1
Superior 8, Medford 0